The Life Beyond
by LLPeepz13
Summary: CHAPTER 6 UP, CHAPTER 3 REWRITTEN!Just another “life after Saturday” fic. Starts right after the movie ends, when everyone is being picked up by parents. ClairexJohn centric. RR!
1. Brian

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The Life Beyond

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Summary: Just another "life after Saturday" fic, mostly revolving around Claire and John. Starts right after the movie ends, when everyone is being picked up by parents. My 5th fic, 1st Breakfast Club one. 

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Rating: PG-13 for now, for language, drug use, and possible sexual stuff…may become R later, depending on how steamy I make the sex scenes, or if I make them at all…lol.

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A/N: I'm not even sure if people still read The Breakfast Club fics lol, but I'm gonna write one anyway, because I have no life and can't stop thinking about this movie, and how I would have things happen…or how I imagine they would…please read, please R/R! No flames though, ok? I'm a pyro, I love fire (lol, I SO wanna light my shoe on fire like Bender…), but I'd much rather read constructive criticism or compliments than flames…thanks! Oh, and to those of you who have read my Gilmore Girls fics, I WILL update soon, I promise! I've just been busy, and with the season ending and Jess leaving and all I got sad lol…but I'll write more on them soon. So…read, and I really hope you enjoy! BENDER FOREVER! *insane* =)

Chapter One – Brian

"So, Brian, did you get a chance to study like your mother told you to?" Brian's father asked, as they drove away from school, and the most interesting experience of Brian's life.

"No, Dad. We had to write and essay about why we were there and who we think we are, so that's what I did the whole time," Brian replied.

"You spent over 8 hours on an essay?" his father asked, disbelieving. 

He sighed. "Yeah, Dad. Mr. Vernon wanted perfection. And you know I don't hand anything in unless I have re-read it and perfected it numerous times."

"Well, at least we know that Mr. Vernon will like your paper, then…" his father said quietly.

__

I hope so, Brian thought. _He's probably reading it right now and wondering what the hell went on when he wasn't looking. Oh well, the others seemed to approve of it._

They pulled up into the driveway, got out of the car, and walked inside, where Brian's mother was waiting for him.

"Well, young man," his mother started, crossing her arms, "I'm assuming you used your day wisely."

"I already told Dad, we had to write an essay, I didn't have time to study," Brian said, getting annoyed.

His mother sighed. "Well then are you ever going to tell us how you landed in a Saturday detention in the first place?"

"Well…yeah…I umm…I got into a, uh, a fight…yeah. This kid tackled me and I tried to, uh, defend myself. So since we both threw punches we both got detentions," he lied. 

His parents stared at him, suspicious. "Hmm…well, if you say so. Just stay out of trouble in the future. Yale looks down on people who get detentions," his mother warned.

He nodded. "OK. I know. It won't happen again, I promise." He retreated to his room to "study". What he actually did was open up his Physics book and stare blankly at the pages, going over what had happened earlier that day.

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OK, that's it for this chapter. I know, it's extremely short, but that's how the first few chapters are gonna be. They'll get longer and more interesting, I promise! So tell me what you think, hmm? What I was thinking of doing was having the first 5 chapters each focus on a different person, and what happens to them when they leave detention. After that, I'll just focus on all of them. THANKS FOR READING!!! =)

~*~Lauren~*~


	2. Andrew

Chapter 2 – Andrew

Andrew's father barely even glanced at him when he got in the car. 

"Where's your wrestling champ patch, Andrew?" his father asked.

Andrew had barely even noticed it was gone, he had been too busy looking at Allison. "Oh, I guess Allison must have taken it…" he said vaguely. 

"Allison? That girl you were staring at when I got here?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"Well you get that patch back at school on Monday, you hear me? You can't let girls take things from you just because you think they're pretty," his father scolded.

"Yeah, sure Dad," he nodded, not really paying attention to anything his father was saying. 

"I'm serious, Andrew. First you do something stupid and _get caught_, which lands you in detention. And now you're gonna let girls steal things from you? I don't think so. No way. She didn't even look that good."

"So?" Andrew replied heatedly. "She may not be the best looking girl out there, but she's a good person. She's…different. Interesting. It's like…she looks at me, and she knows exactly what I'm thinking. She's amazing…"

"Hmph," his father snorted. "Sounds like you have a crush on her."

"Maybe. I dunno."

"Whatever. You just get that patch back and stay out of detention. You can't afford to miss a match."

"Alright! I heard you the first time, Dad," Andrew said, bored of this discussion. _I think, from now on, whenever Dad mentions not missing a match, or buffing up more, or anything wrestling related, I'm just gonna block him out,_ he thought. 

"Right, well I'm going to the store to pick up a steak for dinner," his dad said as he dropped him off a home. 

Andrew nodded and walked into the house. "Mom, I'm back!" he shouted. 

"Oh hi honey," his mother said, coming downstairs. "So did you have fun today?" she asked sarcastically. 

"Actually, it wasn't that bad. A lot of good came from it," Andrew replied truthfully. "Not bad at all…" he said, going to his room. He sat down at his desk and wondered what would happen on Monday. Would he really act as Claire had said, and cut Brian, Allison, and John up behind their backs? Or would he find the guts to stand up to his friends? Only Monday would tell…and had more than a day to wait before he found out.

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And there's Andrew's chapter…opinions? Am I depicting things correctly so far? Thanks for reading again! =)

~*~Lauren~*~


	3. Allison

**Disclaimer:** Do I seriously have to do this? Fine. I don't own The Breakfast Club or any of its characters. I'm a broke college student with an overactive imagination. Suing me will get you nothing. I do, however, own my OC, David, and any other OCs I may add.

**A/N: **I've recently gone back and re-read all of my old fics. This chapter caught my eye; it was horrible. I've more or less re-written it. Allison and her mother were terribly OOC. I hope this is better. I also hope that my writing itself seems better; I've been working hard on improving it. This chapter may have a different feel than the others, but it's just my new style. I think I'm going to leave the other chapters as they are, and simply continue the fic in my new style. R/R again, please! Thank you!

And now, for your reading pleasure…

**Chapter 3 – Allison (revised)**

Allison climbed into her mother's car absent-mindedly. As usual, they didn't even exchange a "hello." Both sighed. The empty silence pressed on Allison's mind. She already missed the fools she'd spent her day with, and that was odd; she'd never missed anyone before. Those teens, though – they were different. They were almost as broken as she was. She'd seen right through each of them, a talent she'd picked up from being a loner and watching people too much. She hadn't expected to get along with the jock so well. _Andrew,_ she thought. _ Underneath it all, we're not so different. _She hoped that she'd gotten through to the others with her tearful speech about her and Brian being better people, and hearts dying as they grew up. They'd all seemed confused and reluctant to believe her. Allison had seen people's hearts die, though. She knew what she was talking about. She was jerked out of her thoughtful mood when her mother's car door slammed shut. Another wordless ride had ended; they were home. Before she even reached the door to their small house, Allison's mother was back in the car and driving away. _Great, _she thought. _That means I'm stuck home with David._ Her brother, David, was a typical snot-nosed 11-year-old brat who wasted his life playing video games.

"Yo, Alli!" came the shout from the living room over the noise of laser beams, explosions, and roaring monsters. She sighed – again. Her mother may ignore her, but David certainly didn't.

"What?" she asked impatiently.

"You're in charge of dinner. Mom got called back to work. Can we have pancakes?"

Allison raised an eyebrow. "Pancakes for dinner?" Who was she kidding; she ate stranger things than that. "Fine. But don't blame me if they suck. You know I can't cook. Let me know when you're hungry."

"Yeah, ok." Already, her brother's attention had turned back to defeating the 8-headed beasts on the screen.

Allison rolled her eyes and headed to her room. Once there, she grabbed her diary full of rants, raves, sketches, and ramblings and began to add to it. She knew she wouldn't forget today, but somehow, she would feel better if she recounted it in her own words on paper. She opened her mind, and followed it on a journey of that day's events.

_I decided to spend my Saturday in detention because I truly had nothing better to do. I am glad I made that decision. I was able to help people see themselves for who they really are. I showed Claire and Andrew how much they hated being snobs; I showed Brian that he wasn't such a bad person; and I pointed out Bender's hypocrisies. I feel that the one I help the most, though, was Andrew. He was hurting and refused to show it. He does anything people ever tell him to do, and that is a problem. I told him as much. I think it opened his eyes. He sees more clearly now. I don't think he'll ever be an outright rebel, but he has it in him to walk his own path and listen to his heart before it dies. That's all I want people to do: listen to their hearts before they can't anymore._

"Alli! I'm starving!" Her brother's scream dragged her from her memories introspection. It was a short entry, but it would do. Releasing the millionth sigh of the day, she rose to go play cook for her brother. For the time being, life was bearable.

**A/N:** Well, there you have it: Allison re-written. I'm not entirely happy with it, but it doesn't make me cringe anymore. It's still far too short. Oh well. Chapter 6 and up will be longer, I'm hoping. So…R/R! Is Allison more IC? Or did I butcher her even more? By the way…chapter 6 is truly in the works. I'm not sure when it will be done, but I am back on board with this fic. Yay! Now review, my readers, and make a review whore happy!


	4. Claire

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A/N: Hey guys! Just thought I'd make a note of this…as I'm writing this, I'm listening to the Nickleback CD "Silver Side Up"…right now, the song is "Never Again"…and it's about a drunk father who beats his wife and stuff, and I just started thinking about Bender when I heard it…just thought you'd like to know for some reason…=) *sings* "Seen him before, but not like this, been there before but not like this, never before have I ever seen him this bad, she's just a woman, never again…" *trails off as song finishes…* 

Chapter 4 – Claire

"Claire, who was that young man you were just with?" Claire's father asked almost as soon as she sat down in the new black Porsche.

Claire sighed. For some reason she had thought that maybe, just maybe, her father would have missed her kissing John. "His name is John Bender, Daddy."

"Hmm…well sweetie, I think John Bender is a thief," her father said, noticing the missing sparkle by Claire's ear.

"Wh-What? Why would you say that?" she said nervously.

"You seem to be missing your new earrings," he stated simply. 

"Oh, well, one is right here," she said, digging into her pocket and bringing out an earring. 

"And the other…?"

"I…gave it John, as a gift. Daddy, please don't be mad, he didn't steal it, or force me to give it to him…I gave it willingly," she pleaded. 

"Fine," he said. There were a few minutes of silence. Then: "You know Claire, diamond earrings don't just fall out of thin air. They cost a good amount of money, and I had those ones specially made for your sensitive ears," her father said sternly. "Most girls your age would cherish such jewelry."

"I do cherish them! They're beautiful! But, I wanted to give Bender something that had meaning for me…well, us…you had to be there at detention today, I guess, but there _is_ a good reason for giving Bender that earring," Claire said, thinking back to when Bender had been asking her how she had gotten those earrings. 

"Right. Just don't give away valuable items to guys like that in the future."

"Fine, I won't."

"Good."

They sat in silence for the rest of the ride.

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"Hello, dear," Claire's mother greeted her when she walked into the large house. She gave her a hug. "I have some wonderful news, sweetheart!" her mother beamed. 

"Yes…?" Claire asked cautiously, knowing that her mother was never this cheery unless she had arranged something that she loved, and Claire hated.

"Well, since you ask…I've set up for you to meet a nice young man tonight!" her mother smiled.

Claire sighed. The dates her mother set her up on were always the same, and terribly boring. It was always a clean-cut, proper gentleman who bored her with stories of his success and how much money his parents had. 

"Great Mom, real great," Claire said. Her mother didn't catch the sarcasm. 

"Yes, yes, I know! His name is John."

For a moment, hope flared up in Claire…but no, her mother didn't know people like John's parents.

"John Bohe. He's a fine young gentleman, 3 years older than you are and a town over. His parents are wonderful people, surely you remember Billy and Diane Bohe?"

"Yes," Claire said immediately. If she said no, her mother would launch into a lengthily explanation of who they were, and she did _not_ want to listen to that. 

"Okay, well, I arranged for him to pick you up here at 7:00 tonight, so if I were you, I'd start getting ready," Claire's mother stated.

"Mom, I don't need 2 and a half hours to get ready for a date. Besides, I have plans tonight…" Claire said, thinking of calling someone in the Breakfast Club. Particularly, someone named John.

"Well then get out of your plans!" her mother said, irritated. 

"Sorry, Mom, can't."

Her mother signed noisily. "Fine. But don't expect me to cancel any more dates for you, young lady."

"Right, Mom. Got it." Claire found the phone book hiding under the TV, and took it up to her room. There were only 4 Benders in it, and only one in Shermer. She picked up the phone that was settled on her desk and dialed John's number.

"Bender residence, whatdaya want?" a man's voice answered.

"Umm…yes, hi. This is Claire. I was looking for John Bender…"

The man sighed, then yelled, "Johnny! Get your little punk ass over here! There's some chick on the phone for ya!" 

__

Oh, great, I'm "some chick", Claire thought. She waited a few moments, then heard the voice she had wanted to. "What?"

"John, hey, it's Claire!"

"Well well well, Princess, how ya doin'?"

"OK, just bored. I found your number in the phone book, I hope you don't mind…"

"Mind? God no, its great that you called."  
"Really?" Claire asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I sorta figured you would forget all about us."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"So…how are you?"

"Good. Better than I've been. My old man hasn't noticed my new earring yet," John said with a smile in his voice.

"Well, that's good," she laughed.

There was a little while of silence. "Look, Claire, I know you wouldn't call just so we could chat idly."

__

Man, he's good at reading minds…thought Claire. "Well…no, I didn't…"

"So?"

"I…umm…well I just wanted to know if that kiss meant anything at all to you," she said very quickly.

John was silent for a minute, and Claire became worried. It hadn't meant shit to him, he didn't care about her, it was just like any other kiss…

"Of course it did, Princess," he said softly. "I mean, it was short, but…it was a hell of a kiss."

Claire smiled. It _did_ mean something to him! Ah, life was good…

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Ok, well that's it for Claire's chapter! THANKS FOR ALL WHO REVIEWED! And hi Sarah/Monkey!!! LoL…I'm going away from this Saturday till next Saturday (7/26 – 8/2), so I won't be able to post more chapters, but I'm bringing lots of paper with me so I can still write, and I'll update when I get back! And guys, I WILL finish this fic! I promise! I dunno how long it's gonna be, but it'll be FINISHED! WOOHOO! LoL…

I'm thinking that for John's chapter, I'm gonna continue that phone convorsation and stuff…

Keep the reviews coming, they're an author's best friend! Thanks for reading again! =)

~*~Lauren~*~


	5. John

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Chapter 5 – John

John Bender had waked home from detention across the football field as usual. Nobody ever bothered to pick him up, because he never bothered to tell his parents where he was going. Just as he had walked into the house, the phone rang, and his father had yelled that there was "some chick on the phone."

It was Claire.

Cherry.

The Princess.

…She was calling him?

Apparently so.

"I…umm…well I just wanted to know if that kiss meant anything at all to you," Claire asked quickly.

How could she even ask that? It certainly had. "Of course it did, Princess," he replied softly. "I mean, it was short, but…it was a hell of a kiss."

He heard her let out a sigh of relief.

"Did it mean anything to _you_, Princess?"

"Now what do you think?"

"I dunno what I think. So why don't you just tell me?"

"Ok, I hadn't wanted to tell you this much, but…that was my first real kiss," she blurted.

"Oh." Well _that_ he hadn't known…

"Yeah…and having it come from you made it even better."

John smiled. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Well, if you feel you need any practice, I'm sure we could arrange that…"

Claire laughed. "Oh, I'm sure we could. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Well, you know, I figured you'd enjoy it too…" he teased.

"Haha, yeah." They were silent for a minute. "So, John…what do you think will happen on Monday?"

"You mean, will we still be discussing practicing the art of kissing? God, I hope so!" John said, trying to keep the mood light.

"No, I mean…what's gonna happen on Monday? Are we – well mostly me – gonna be able to stand up to our old friends?"

"Dunno. We'll see," he replied. "I guess we'll just hafta –." Somewhere in the house, glass broke, and John heard his father calling his name in a drunken daze. "Oh shit! Fuck…I gotta go," he said to Claire apologetically. "The old man calls."

"Oh…ok. Be careful, John," Claire said, with a worried tone in her voice.

"I'll try. And I'll see you Monday, Princess."

"Alright. Bye John."

"Bye." He hung up, and went to the living room where his father was. "What?" he asked his father, annoyed. "You interrupted me on a very important phone call, Dad."

"Yeah, well, what I gotta say is much more important than anything some blonde-headed slut has to say," his father slurred.

"Red-headed."

"What?"

"She's a red-head, Dad. And she's not a slut," John said, pissed off.

"Right. Whatever. You know, I oughtta teach you how to be more respectful. I mean, when I was a kid, I never corrected my father…"

While his father babbled about respectfulness, John was moving his hair to try and cover up Claire's earring. Unfortunately, it didn't work. 

"Hey…HEY! You even listenin' to me?" his father was saying. His eyes narrowed, and he peered closer at John. "You little shit! You stole someone's earring! Get over here, you fucking thief!" he said, and lunged at John. John ducked and stepped back, and his father missed. 

"Dad, I didn't steal anything – ."

"Shut up! Thieving bastard, I'll teach you to steal!" his father screamed, and backhanded John.

"DAD! Claire gave it to me!" John screamed back, holding his head where he'd been struck.

His father blinked. "Why would anyone give a useless shit like you an earring?"

"I dunno, Dad. Just quit hitting me."

His father laughed humorlessly. "Why, you a baby?" he taunted. "Can't stand to fight your old man?" He slapped John…_hard._ "Fuckin' pussy, get outta my sight. And if I ever catch you stealing again, I'll give you a _real_ beating!"

John retreated out the back door, and climbed onto the roof. He felt the right side of his face and winced; that would be a new bruise. He tasted blood from when his father had slapped him, and sighed. This was gonna be one looooooooooong night…

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A/N: Well, there you have it…John's chapter. Hope you liked it! I wrote most of it in the car on the way to NY and on the way back home, so it'll be a miracle if I can read my own writing, lol. The next chapter is gonna be about Monday, and that should be out soon! R/R, and thanks for reading…yet again! 

~*~Lauren~*~


	6. Monday Bloody Monday

Chapter 6 – "Monday, Bloody Monday" 

**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Breakfast Club or any of its characters, blah blah blah, I'm broke. Don't sue. I'll bite your legs off.

**A/N: ** Holy shit, guys…I'm BACK! This really is an update, not your mind screwing with you. I apologize a million times for the ridiculously long hiatus. I don't know why, but I lost interest in this fic for quite a while. Now, though, I've rewritten chapter 3 (go check it out) and gotten this chapter out of the way. Don't forget, I've got this fic set up so that it's ClaireXJohn centric.

**Warnings:** What the hell did I rate this thing, T? Yeah…the rating is for language, violence, possible drug use/references, and maybe a lime. I have no idea where this fic is going. I just write down the ramblings of my brain. Read at your own risk. Don't blame me if you rip your hair out after reading. I warned you!

Claire 

Claire woke up at 5:30am to the much-too-cheery sound of her mother's voice. She groaned and pulled the covers up over her head. "Mom, I was planning on sleeping in today!"

Her mother looked astonished, and laughed. "But, Claire…It's Monday! Surely you're not skipping school again to go shopping…are you sick?"

"Ugh. No, I just didn't realize it was Monday…I'll be up in a minute," Claire sighed. _Monday,_ she thought with disgust. _Wonderful._ She got in the shower and let the water do its job of waking her up. As she washed her hair, Claire wondered if she would get to speak to John today – and what would happen if she did. Would she be able to stand up to her old "friends"?

Maybe…if she could just wake up…that might help.

John 

John awoke with a start. What in the hell…who was calling his name?

"John!" shouted his mother again. She looked up at him sympathetically from under the large, overgrown oak tree in the front yard; it was the only growing thing. He jumped down and his mother almost instinctively reached out and moved his hair. She peered at the fresh, swelling bruise.

"My poor baby…" she whispered. "I'm so sorry it's turned out like this…he gets drunk, hits you because you're in his line of sight, and then you fall asleep on the roof or in the tree…"

"It's ok Mom, don't worry about it. The Old Man's got problems, that's all there is to it." In John's opinion, his mother pretended to worry for him too much. She was always telling him how sorry she was for everything, and he was used to it. His old man was crazy, end of story. Of course, he often questioned his mother's sanity for marrying and staying with the man.

"I _am_ worried, though. I'm a mother, I'm supposed to worry. And I _am_ sorry. I wish I had the strength and courage to leave, but…I barely finished high school, so I can't get a job that pays enough to support the two of us, and I'm afraid your father might actually come looking for us, and…"

"Enough," John interrupted. "I wish I could believe you, but…." His mother's eyes darkened with despair and began to glisten with tears that soon cascaded down her cheeks. He swallowed. "I'm getting ready for school. I'll be back…later." He turned heel and wandered back to the house to shower and dress. _I'm so sick of all this,_ he thought. _The old man gets drunk, beats me, then beats her, and she gives me the same fucking lip-service speech every single time. She doesn't mean a word of it. If she did, she'd have found a way out for us. Besides, she's a hypocrite; one minute she's cursing me off alongside Dad, and the next she's crying for me. _If it weren't for his mother, he would've left ages ago. As much as he acted like a badass, though, he couldn't bring himself to leave his hypocritical mother with that monster he called "dad." Frustrated, angry, exhausted, sore, and in an all-together terrible mood, John Bender fumed his way to school. As usual, he would be late; that was the least of his concerns.

**Claire**

Claire opened the car door to get out, anxious about what today would bring.

"Oh, Claire!" her mother said. "I almost forgot! Your father told me about your _missing_ earring. Please try to get it back. Your father and I are both very upset that you would give away something so expensive."

Claire rolled her eyes. _That again._ "Yeah, ok, Mom. I'll do that."

"Thanks, sweetheart. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Mom." Claire climbed out of the car and rushed to class. She'd been so slow waking up that she might end up late. Already, the halls were nearly empty; the homeroom bell had rung. She dumped the books she didn't need in her locker, scanning the hallway for any friends. At first glance, she didn't see anybody, so she started walking towards her homeroom class. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a familiar figure at the opposite end of the hall, presumably heading to class. It only took her a second to realize that it was John. She smiled. _Good Monday – 1, Crappy Monday – 0. _ "John! Hey, John!" she waved. He looked up, and she gasped. The earring was forgotten. "Oh my God, John…are you ok? What happened?"

"I fell. I'm fine. Peachy keen. Fuckin' fabulous. I've never been better," John said, biting sarcasm spewing from his lips. "I've got a split lip and a bruise the size of an orange, but I'm great. Hell, I'm even in my second favorite place in the entire world: school."

Claire hesitated, taken aback by his harsh words and icy glare. "John, I don't believe you fell," she said, remembering his reenactment of his father's beatings. "What happened? You can tell me," she offered.

His glare softened for a moment, but quickly hardened again. "Whatever. I don't want to talk about it. Don't you have backs to stab or something?" he shot back, pushing roughly past her. "Just leave me the hell alone," he muttered.

Claire stood there and watched him walk away, shocked and confused. What had happened to the teasing, amusing trouble maker she had talked to on the phone only days before? He'd transformed into a sarcastic, morose, mean-spirited jerk. _What an asshole,_ she thought, turning around and continuing to class. _Who does he think he is, treating me that way? We're barely friends for a day, and look at us; we're fighting already! And over what?_ _Looks like it's a tie between Good Monday and Crappy Monday._ She would have to look for him during lunch and see if she could convince him to talk about what was wrong. _No!_ her mind scolded. _He needs to apologize to me before I go to him. He can find me._ With that, she settled into class, her mind anywhere but on school.

**John**

John stormed into class and plopped heavily into his seat, not caring whose shit he kicked out of the way in the process. He turned the seat/desk combination in front of him around, stuck his feet on it, crossed his arms over his chest, and glared at the class, daring somebody to object. When nobody did, his thoughts turned to the encounter he'd just had with Claire. His anger was tinged with guilt. He felt bad for snapping at her. _Why should I feel sorry? I have enough problems without a girl following me around and interrogating me like it's the Goddamn Spanish Inquisition. It's none of her business. Why does she even care? Nobody else does. And it's not her face that's all swollen and sore. I don't need her in my face about my life._ Still, though, something in the back of his mind was nagging at him. _The back stabbing comment,_ he thought. That had taken it too far. He felt sorry for saying it. _Maybe I should catch up to her later and apologize. _That thought shocked him; John rarely if ever apologized to anybody, much less somebody who he had despised until recently. _Talk to her. Tell her what happened,_ his mind whispered. _Whatever,_ he told himself. _Who cares?_ He shoved his problems to the dusty back corner of his mind and concentrated on sleeping. He'd be damned if he let his usual problems and one overly-curious girl disrupt his near-daily routine of falling asleep in class.

XXXXX

Refreshed after napping in his last four classes, John made his way to lunch. Having decided to talk to Claire, he looked for the red-head in the noisy, stinking cafeteria. Spotting her on the other side of the room with a friend, he briskly walked past the students trying to decipher what sort of mystery meat they were poisoning themselves with today and was at her table in no time.

The girl Claire was with, Ashley, turned and looked at John in disgust. "What do _you_ want?"

"Nothing involving you, sweetheart." The two glared at one another; Ashley looked away first. John turned his attention to Claire. "Hey, Cherry."

"Hey back," Claire said, wondering what he wanted. He didn't seem to be acting cold, as he had before.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked, and then mumbled, "I, um, wanted to take you up on your offer."

Claire smiled. "Yeah, sure. Outside?"

John nodded. "Cool."

"Whoa…hold on a second!" Ashley exploded. "Claire, hun, where are you going with this loser?"

"Outside," Claire replied coolly. "To talk to John." With that, she snatched his hand and hurried towards a door.

"But when did you become so friendly with a dope head like him?!" Ashley sputtered after their disappearing figures. "What the hell? Ugh!" She scurried off to spread the word that Claire, Prom queen nominee, was hanging around with John Bender, joint-rolling extraordinaire.

XXXXX

**A/N:** And the 6th chapter has come to a close. I know it seems short, but at a little over 4 pages in Word, it's the longest chapter I've ever written. Yeah, pretty pathetic. I can't force myself to keep writing and make it any longer, though. I'm running on 10-12 hours of sleep this _week_, and yet here I am at 2:00am finishing and posting this chapter. I realize I don't deserve them, but I would appreciate reviews. When I'm actually posting stories/chapters, I live off of reviews. Seriously. I get giddy every time I see a new review. They're my inspiration. Chapter 7 is already underway and shouldn't take long to finish. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!!


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